JOIN USAs many as 103 gram panchayats will be presented with the Nirmal Gram Puraskar award by Governor H R Bhardwaj on Saturday.
The gram panchayats have been selected for the award as they were “100 per cent defecation free”, said Sanjeev Kumar, Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.
Addressing the media along with RDPR Minister K S Eshwarappa, Kumar said three districts in Karnataka, including Dakshina Kannada had been declared completely free of defecation.
The government which had the target of constructing 58 lakh individual toilets under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan programme, could complete only 41 lakh toilets. As many as 30 lakh toilets are to be constructed including the backlog for the year 2011.
Fodder
Eshwarappa said as many as 53 lorries carrying 424 tonnes of fodder were being transported from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh to Karnataka to make up for the fodder shortage.
The fodder will be distributed to about 150 goshalas, he said adding that the government also planned to import an additional 200 tonnes of fodder. The raw material is being purchased at Rs 10,500 per tonne.